Slip The Open Window
by Moonraker One
Summary: Think of the multiverse as a series of windows. One different chromosome leads to an entirely different adventure. So slip the window open and see what adventures await Naruko Uzumaki as she ventures out into the world. Note: So many Fem!Naruto stories change nothing. This is not one of them.
1. Chapter 1

Slip the Open Window  
By Moonraker One

Author's Note: My first Naruto fanfiction since Uzumaki Chronicles, and the first fanfiction at all in over two years, since I have taken a lot of time off to work on and publish a novel, "Mind Pressure Quotient." Nonetheless, it is finished (and I'm working on more), and I have time to write a fanfiction in the meantime.

**CHAPTER ONE**

Thunder crackled outside the window. Flashes of light from bolts further illuminated the room of the Third Hokage's office. He drummed his nails on the desk. More than a few times he glanced into his crystal ball, checking on the location of his sentries. He took a sip of sake from a small glass, letting out a sigh. He leaned back in his chair and looked twice at the clock. A few minutes later, he heard a knock. "Come in," he said in an aged, ragged voice.

The door swung and through it walked a figure the Hokage hadn't seen in several years. "So, what did you send for me for, Sarutobi-sensei?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the elderly Third, cleared his throat. "Seeing you, Jiraiya, makes me wish I didn't have to impose upon you," he explained. He waved. "Please, take a seat. This probably won't be short."

Jiraiya furrowed his brow. "I'm a bit confused," he replied. "You've let me be for six years. Now you send for me?" He sat down. "I hate to sound like an ungrateful student, but a favor's a lot to expect, wouldn't you say, sensei?"

Hiruzen looked at the table, contemplating for a few moments his student's words. He looked back. "Jiraiya," he said, taking all the sharpness out of his voice, "Minato and Kushina trusted you unflinchingly. I've taken care of Naruko as best I can these past years, giving her an apartment and a daily living expense. But these last few months have been upsetting me."

Jiraiya leaned in. "Okay, you got my attention," he exclaimed, turning his disconnected expression to one of stern.

Hiruzen took a deep breath. "Jiraiya, the villagers left Naruko alone because she was only four or five. Now that she's six years old, the village kids are starting to take notice of her and their cruel words unnerve me."

Jiraiya let out a nostril sigh. "Sensei, kids are kids. You think I worried about any time kids made fun of me?"

Hiruzen looked straight at him. "I highly doubt you adequately remember when you were five," he admonished. "This isn't any ordinary childish bullying. The adults have always shunned Naruko and given her the cold shoulder. Now the kids are doing the same. If she'd been born a boy, I'd…"

Jiraiya slightly cocked his head. "Not be worried?" he said. "Isn't that a bit…presumptuous?"

Hiruzen gave him an accusatory look. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean, old man," Jiraiya concluded.

Hiruzen half-smiled and let out a single chuckle. "You only call me that when you don't like something I've said."

This drew a shrug. "You know me inside-out, sensei. Now tell me, how does her being a girl make a difference? You saw how Tsunade would react…"

"With all due respect, Jiraiya," Hiruzen interrupted, "Naruko is not Tsunade. Tsunade was always a fireball, even at the age of six. I see only despair and suffering in Naruko's eyes. Iruka gives her attention, talks to her after school and over ramen, but it clearly isn't enough."

Jiraiya balked. "Sensei, I know I swore I'd protect Minato and Kushina's kid,"

Hiruzen pierced him with his gaze. "But instead you've dedicated all your efforts to tracking Orochimaru," he accused.

The student regarded the teacher with a low gaze. "I loved Minato and Kushina; they were like my own children, but I've gotta put the village and the balance of peace first. The last thing you'd want is another world war."

"That's why I'm proposing you take Naruko to Mount Myoboku."

Jiraiya jerked back in his chair, struck dumb by the declaration. For a brief moment he sat staring at his master. "Haha," he shook his head. "You can't be serious, old man." Hiruzen sat unfazed. Jiraiya's humorous smile disappeared. "You_ are_ serious, aren't you?" Hiruzen nodded flatly. "Sensei, how can I take a six year old girl who's barely an academy student, to the sacred mountain of the toads? She doesn't even have a summoning contract!"

"I'm not asking you this because I feel like shackling you to a child, Jiraiya," Hiruzen protested. "I'm doing this because I have firm belief that Naruko will not survive to adulthood unscarred if she isn't able to get an advantage over her fellow students who might feel like harming her out of a revenge their parents have."

"Say it like it is, old man," Jiraiya countered. "You're worried about a jinchuriki like her turning into another Orochimaru, even worse."

"I can't say it didn't cross my mind," Hiruzen blurted out.

Jiraiya shook his head. "No. If I get off track I lose the trail of Orochimaru and Akatsuki, and god knows what they're up to if I don't figure out."

Hiruzen then did something that he never did. He put his hands together on his desk and held them forward. "Jiraiya, _please_. I'm begging you," he pleaded. "If you ever loved Minato or Kushina, you'll forget about Orochimaru for a while and do this. In fact, if you take her there, I'm sure the toads will train her and you can just check in occasionally."

His student's eyes got big. "I…uh, damn it," he exclaimed. He looked down, sighed, then looked back up. "If it means that much to you, sensei, fine. I'll do it." He pointed his finger. "But here's my terms: I'm not a babysitter and I don't do tea parties for little girls. The toads take care of her and I don't have to be there to wipe her bottom. And _most of all_, I'm not restricted to being her bodyguard or personal assistant either."

"You can check in as often or as little as you like, Jiraiya, as long as you make sure to teach her things every now and then and make sure her mental state is stable," Hiruzen explained.

"I know the toads are wise," Jiraiya added, standing, "but what about curriculum?"

Hiruzen stood. "Iruka has become something of a friend to Naruko," he explained. "I'll have Iruka draw up some basic lesson plans and send them to the toads."

Jiraiya shook hands. "You know, to tell you the truth, I just wanted to see if you'd beg," he admitted, a humor to his voice.

"You jerk," Hiruzen chuckled. "Thank you. I'm in your debt."

Jiraiya turned to go. "You sure as hell are, sensei." He drew an umbrella over his head, and stepped out of the central building of Konoha into the rain. The dim setting sun poked through the occasional hole in the storm's spread. A few gasps of startled amazement from the people who knew him caught his attention as he walked the streets of his home village. He looked around and noticed the subtle changes, the slight differences between then and now, and filed it away in his mind. About fifteen minutes of walking led him to the apartment complex three, the building full of orphans who were given a weekly expense account to feed and clothe themselves. At the service desk on the ground floor sat a young man reading a magazine. He looked up, a sudden pleased look on his face.

"Well, to what can we owe this honor, Jiraiya-sama?" he asked.

"Naruko Uzumaki," he said.

The young man pulled a record book onto his desk. "Let's see…ah!" He pointed to a single entry. "Naruko Uzumaki, third floor, apartment three-b."

"Thanks," Jiraiya said, heading up the stairs. He climbed three floors before turning onto the outer walkway. A short walk from the staircase led him to a door with a crudely-drawn hand with the words, "assholes keep out!" painted inside. He smirked and knocked three times. A minute long wait saw the door open and a small child standing perplexed.

"Who're you, mister?" Her expression soured. "Oh, I get it. Another grownup come yell at me. Well get it over with!"

"You're an annoying brat, but you've got spunk," he said with a slightly irritated expression. "My name's Jiraiya, and I'm a good friend of the Hokage's, and he's asked me to take you to a place where you'll be safe and get private attention. You're Naruko, right?"

The little blonde girl with her hair in pigtails shook her head. "You're not here to yell at me?"

"Sorely tempted," Jiraiya admitted. "But I'm doing the old man a favor and so get your clothes together and we'll head out." He dropped a bag in front of her. "Put it in this."

Naruko grabbed the bag with a sudden cheeriness and headed in the apartment. Five minutes later, she came out carrying the bag. "Ready, Jiraiya-sensei!"

Jiraiya regarded the bag with confusion. "That thing's barely got anything in it," he said.

"I only got five outfits," Naruko admitted. Her slightly tattered shirt and shorts bothered him.

He shrugged. "Well, come with me. We'll buy you another set of outfits before we go."

Jiraiya picked up the bag and the two of them exited the apartment complex. The whole way, he looked forward to getting on with his mission with tracking Orochimaru and Akatsuki, and ditching this brat with the toads. There would be no way she would be in danger with the toads protecting her, and he could use any one of several excuses he had to avoid visiting her often. He didn't seem to notice Naruko beaming at the attention. She'd never had a grownup, not even Iruka who was nice to her and gave her ramen, to just tell her they were taking her some place safe. She walked happily, and none of the villagers looked at her oddly because she was walking with Jiraiya, whose mere presence commanded respect.

They made a stop at the clothing store nearest the academy. They both walked inside. The tailor was about to give Naruko a dirty look but then saw her companion. He looked up to the tall sage. "Jiraiya-sama! What brings you here?" the tailor asked.

He dropped a pile of coins on the desk. "This should cover at least five or six sets of outfits that Naruko here picks out," he ordered. "I'll be right back, I gotta get her study materials together."

The tailor switched rapidly between bewildered looks at Naruko and flattering looks at the tall sage. "Y…yes! As you wish, Jiraiya-sama!"

Jiraiya turned to Naruko. "Pick out two sets of casual clothes, and three or so sets of uniforms," he ordered. "You need casual clothes for when you aren't on a mission, and uniforms for when you are."

Naruko rapidly went to work looking at outfits, and the aging sage left the store and headed next door to the academy. He walked down the hall, getting more respectful glances, and knocked on the teacher's lounge door. A voice beckoned him in. He immediately recognized his target. "Iruka, is it?"

Iruka bowed. "Jiraiya-sama, I've received word from Lord Hokage," he said. "We talked about the need for Naruko to be educated by us as well as the toads, so I've compiled a full semester's worth of school work. This should take her from now until December." He hoisted a stack of books and scrolls and dropped them into Jiraiya's bag. "If you have need of me, please don't hesitate to come by…and would you mind if I see her before she goes?"

Jiraiya donned the bag via shoulder strap. "Sure thing." He started walking, the academy instructor walking behind him. Iruka wore a surprised and nervous expression. He had been told not to get too close to any student for fear of bias, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl, what with her being an orphan as well. They made their way back to the clothing store, where Naruko had a small pile of clothes in a plastic bag to shield them from the rain.

Jiraiya peered in the bag. The casual clothes were not a problem. Then he got to the uniforms. "What the hell is this?" he bellowed.

Naruko gave a "thumbs up" gesture. "Nobody else wanted 'em, so I got 'em," she explained. "I like orange and blue."

"There's a reason nobody buys them," Jiraiya protested. "They'll stick out…" He thought about prolonging his time with this girl. "You know what? On second thought, they're just fine. Whatever clothes you like, go with."

"Okay!" Naruko beckoned, cheerfully.

Jiraiya turned away to roll his eyes. _I don't want to have a lecture with a girl about clothes,_ he thought. _I'd be here until next August._ Iruka moved past Jiraiya and hugged the little girl.

"Naruko, I know it seems like we're sending you away, but I guarantee the toads will take good care of you," he explained.

Naruko looked at him funny. "Toads?"

Jiraiya sighed, exasperatedly. "Smooth, Iruka." He turned to Naruko. "Let me explain. Lots of animals are what we call summons. We humans partner up with these highly intelligent animals and it makes our partnership stronger when we work together. Watch." He bit his thumb, and slapped the ground. The markings of the summoning jutsu appeared, and in a puff of smoke, one of the adult toads appeared, roughly the size of a cow.

"Jiraiya," the toad said.

Naruko almost jumped. "That toad talked!"

It regarded the girl. "So! First time this student o' yours has seen a summoning creature? You sure are taking students young, Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya put up his hands in protest. "_Oh _no," he replied. "She's going to be in the care of the toads for until she's ready for graduation from the academy. She's not my student."

The toad nodded. "Ah, I see. Gotta make 'er stronger and worthy of being a student of Jiraiya, right?"

Jiraiya gave a defeated nod. "Yes. That's totally it," he said, feeling forced. "Anyway, since she's not old enough yet to form a summoning contract, you're going to have to have one of the elders do the reverse summoning."

The toad smiled. "Sure thing!" He disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruko turned to Iruka. "So, I'll be able to visit the village?"

"The toads'll make sure to take care of you," Iruka answered. "I'm sure they'll have someone with you when you're in the village to make sure you're safe."

Naruko and Jiraiya soon disappeared in a puff of smoke, summoned by the toads to Mount Myoboku. They appeared in a rocky area surrounded by streams and forest, as well as the cliffs and various small huts. The two of them were quickly greeted by several of the toads, who led them along a pathway. "Nice to see you drop in again, Jiraiya," one of the adults said. "We don't often let visitors stay here for extended periods of time, so we don't have very many accommodations for humans, but we set something up as per Lord Hokage's orders."

"So, where'm I staying?" Naruko asked.

The toad glanced over at her. "We've set you up a hut with everything you need. Running water, bathroom, kitchen, everything," he explained. "You see, we had to do a lot of things because usually humans stay here only long enough to train. But you're gonna be here for quite a while. We got a school area set up for you to receive lecture and tutoring, and we've got a basic schedule for you to keep up."

Naruko followed them to her hut, which she immediately stared at. "Wow! This is at least three times the size of my apartment!"

The toad took the bags from Jiraiya and lay them on the bed. "Now, we know you won't be fond of eating the same bugs that we eat, so we're gonna stock your refrigerator with human food and you'll be taught cooking so you can fix your own meals."

"So," Naruko asked, "why don't humans stay here more often?"

This time Jiraiya interjected. "That's because most of the time, people aren't given preferential treatment. You're a special case."

Naruko beamed at the thought. _I'm special, _she thought. "How long am I staying here?"

The toad shrugged. "We'll arrange for times where you can go, supervised, to the village, but you're here until Lord Hokage says otherwise. It's a safety thing."

Jiraiya knelt down and put his hands on her shoulders. "Now, Naruko, I know you're a prankster," he admitted. "I've seen some of your…eh…handywork. But you'll have to be serious here. The toads are going out of their way to accommodate you, so you have to be respectful, ok?"

"You'll have a few hours of free time to play or do whatever you please, but we've got a schedule mapped out for you, ok, Naruko-chan?" the toad asked.

Naruko beamed with pride. "I'll do my best, toad-sensei!"

"That's the spirit," the adult toad said. He took Jiraiya aside. Once they were out of range, and Naruko was laying her sets of clothes out on her bed, the toad turned to the sage. "Now, Jiraiya, I know you've been busy and all. This Akatsuki group and your old teammate Orochimaru have been problems, but I want you to promise me you won't just ditch this girl."

Jiraiya scratched his head. "Look, I know I seem like a serious asshole," he replied, "but I seriously don't think the girl's as big of a deal as my mission."

The toad sighed. "Jiraiya, I've known you for a long time. Gamabunta and the elders have nothing but nice things to say about you. But you have to take this girl seriously. She's had nothing, for her whole life. She'll latch onto anyone that gives her attention. You can't tell me that the wrong person could sweet talk her and have a weapon on their hands."

Jiraiya shook his head. "You're right, so I'll tell you what. A year from now, you get her up to the skill level of the other Konoha academy students, and I'll make sure I take her training seriously from that point on. Deal?"

The toad smiled and shook his hand. "Deal!"

"I mean it," Jiraiya added. "I want to see results before I take on her training!"

"Don't worry, we'll get her ready."

The next few weeks tested Naruko's desire and tenacity. At first, the toads were worried that her status as a prank-loving juvenile would prevent her from being able to adequately prepare for her life as a shinobi, but she showed surprising dedication. The more elderly toads responsible for her tutoring considered it a byproduct of her personal attention. Having received firsthand word of the rambunctious "knucklehead ninja," as those who knew her called her, they found that she had a surprising talent for proving people's opinions wrong.

Naruko sat in her room, with one of the toads seated several feet away reading a book. He was there to supervise her homework and to be a tutor after schooling if need be. He noticed her set down her pencil, so he approached and picked up one of her notebooks. He flipped through the pages one by one, smiling when he reached the end. "Good job! You're done with your work for the day," he praised. "You know, I'm amazed at how quick you can get through these. Your answers aren't always perfect, but now you can get almost any of the ideas in the text without having to get much tutor help!"

"When I go to the village," she reminded, "I want to be able to show Iruka-sensei and Jiraiya-sensei my good work and have them see how hard I'm trying!"

The toad patted her on the head. "Well, I'm sure that this'll get them all riled up with praise," he said. "You been working your butt off. I don't think I've ever seen a child of six work like this."

Naruko set her books aside and turned to the toad with a serious expression. "Jiraiya trained here a lot, he did a lot of important stuff. He looks like he's been doing something for a long time."

The toad squirmed slightly. "I'm not supposed to tell ya anything about what he's really doing," the toad admitted, "but let's just say he's spying on a bunch of bad guys."

She smiled and went off to play. One of her favorite spots to play at, the river, always gave her ideas. She would take off her shoes and splash around in the shallow water near the edge before heading back into the main area to dry off and skip stones on the small puddles that were nearby. She would often practice some of the basic jutsu, such as using chakra to step quietly. It got to the point, after several weeks of playing quiet motion, that she could run several hundred meters before she lost control and her footsteps started making noise again. She would play hide and seek and some of the toads would play along, and she got better at avoiding them finding her. She also amazed them with her ability to blend in with her surroundings. Despite wearing a bright orange uniform, she could effectively use chakra to turn the colors of her skin and clothes the colors around her. She managed to prove a point by sneaking into the toad sage temple before getting caught and sent back to her room. The one thing she found herself barely able to use was clones.

Her seventh birthday approached. Within two weeks, she would be seeing Jiraiya again, returning after a whole year of being on his mission. She had finished all the curriculum given to her by Iruka, mastered the skills that an academy student would be expected to perform up to, and felt confident in everything except clones. She approached one of the toads in the temple.

"You can talk to Lord Hokage, right?" she asked.

"Naruko-chan," the serious-faced toad said, "you can't just barge in here." He looked at her pleading face. "Oh, alright. I can relay a message to Lord Hokage." He pulled out a scroll. "Speak."

"I'm really sucky at clones," she said. "I don't wanna disappoint Jiraiya-sensei. Can you send me a scroll helping me to do clones?"

The toad sputtered, getting surprised by her statement. "Naruko-chan," he urged, "are you sure? I mean, the clones you're talking about, and the clone technique Hokage-sama would have a scroll of are very different. You're talking about illusions, whereas the Hokage is only going to have information about Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, which creates _real _clones and is a jounin-level technique. A lot of people can't even do it who're much older than you."

Naruko gritted her teeth. "I don't care!" she yelled. "I gotta prove myself!"

The toad shrugged. "I'll ask him; the worst he can do is say no." He summoned himself to Konoha to deliver the message. Naruko returned to her hut and waited, drawing pictures of the skyline in a sketchbook to pass the time. After a few dozen minutes, she completed a basic pencil sketch and lay back on her bed, bored. _I wonder if Jiraiya will make me strong,_ she thought. _I can't be a helpless little girl. I gotta get stronger._ She let out a breath and stared at the afternoon sky. The blazing sun symbolized her spirit; she wanted nothing more than to be recognized, by someone, by anyone.

She wasn't waiting for a half hour when the messenger toad came to her door. "Naruko-chan," he said, holding forward a small scroll. "The Lord Hokage expressed a great deal of apprehension at the aspect of using this technique, but ultimately, decided the supervision you would receive would make it work."

Naruko hadn't gotten used to some of the formal speak with which the messengers used. "So," she confusedly answered, "what you're telling me is he didn't want me doing it, but decided it'd be ok because you guys are helping me?"

The toad nodded. "Absolutely." He set the scroll on her bed. "I spoke to Lord Fukasaku, and he said that he wants you to train the technique in the area near the river, that way you can be monitored to make sure you don't suffer extreme duress."

Naruko stared at him a moment. "Uh, so he wants me to use it where people can make sure I don't die?"

"Again, absolutely," the messenger toad said, before taking off.

She sat down. _Why do the messengers speak such…big words?_ She unfolded the scroll. Despite it not being the original source of the jutsu, the handwritten copy contained everything she wanted to know. It also had a personal message from Hiruzen. "Naruko," his words read, "I was wondering how serious you were about your training, but if you're risking learning this technique, then I have nothing to worry about. I want you to know that, despite my attention focused elsewhere, I do in fact care about you, and I want you to know that you are indeed loved. Even those such as Jiraiya who seem distant actually want nothing more than to see you safe and happy. Sincerely, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi." She smiled and wiped her left eye after reading his message. She reeled it back up and headed out to do some training.

From a ledge looking down at Naruko, one of the adult toads in charge of her training saw her leave her hut. He followed her all the way to the cliffs overseeing the river, perched himself, and observed. Fukasaku had told him not to directly interfere unless something went wrong, because he wanted to see just how far Naruko could go on her own. Class and sparring occurred under strict tutelage; this was a rare opportunity to see how she could train herself.

Naruko practiced the manipulation of her chakra for the first couple hours. She managed to get it flowing properly and focused on a spot directly in front of her. The first couple dozen times she tried it, the clones would burst into nothingness an instant after appearing. Taking a deep breath, she consulted the scroll once again. _Okay, that makes sense, _she thought, _I gotta get my chakra to split evenly amongst every clone I make. If the balance is even a bit off, it causes the clone to disappear instantly._ She focused on her inner chakra, mentally measuring it for degrees. She realized that if she needed two clones, each one would get half her chakra; if she needed three clones, each one would get a third. Measuring the degree of chakra percentage frustrated her, as she wasn't the best at measuring.

She strolled down to the river and took a drink of water. Afterward, she stood erect, closed her eyes, and focused once again. After a few moments, she put her hands into the proper sign. _Shadow clone jutsu!_ she mentally yelled.

A visible clone appeared. "I did it!" she cried.

"It worked!" shouted the clone.

Then her chakra fluctuated and the clone dispersed. She fell backwards to a seated position. "Damn it," she uttered, taking deep breaths. "I have to be able to focus."

Hours passed. The toad observing her swapped with another so he could get dinner and rest. The new observer sat down and was surprised at how tenacious and determined Naruko could be. He'd seldom seen a child so young try so hard to perfect a technique. Not only was this a jounin level technique, there were not many who could use it. It required a tremendous amount of skill to utilize and a lot more to perfect. He watched as she would make clones, and focus on her chakra being properly distributed so each one would be permanently visible. After several hours, he too would get up and be replaced by another.

After ten hours, the sun had long set and the midnight moon hung overhead. She had practiced and successfully made one clone. Then, with much effort, she made two. By midnight the only light was from the moon and from a couple of torches that she lit. She had gotten to the point where she could adequately measure how much chakra each clone needed. Now, she wanted to practice to see how high she could push it. She figured ten wasn't her limit, so she tried twenty. She then tried a hundred and eventually made it. _A thousand,_ she thought. That would have to be the limit. With sweat pouring down her face, she halted her rapid breaths, and focused. _I hope I have enough to pull this off,_ she said to herself.

She thrust her fingers together in the proper sign. The sudden gust from the disturbing of the air revealed the entire river area filled with clones of herself. Each Naruko pumped their hands upwards in celebration, right before she collapsed backward in exhaustion. "I…did it," she uttered, falling asleep. The toad jumped down from the cliff and scooped her up.

_Amazing_, he thought, bounding from the river several times until the village in the shadow of the toad temple came into view. _She actually pulled it off. She's only a few days short of being seven years old and she's already pulled off a technique that I doubt many adults could've._ He arrived at last at her hut and set her gently on the bed, pulling the covers over her. _Hiruzen,_ he thought, _you certainly had nothing to worry about, in terms of this girl's success._ He turned off her light and left.

A few moments later, he walked into the temple. "I need to send a message to Lord Hokage," he said.

"Tell me the message and I shall relay it to Lord Hokage first thing in the morning," the messenger said, pulling a scroll out of his pouch.

The observer cleared his throat. "Lord Hokage," he explained, "Naruko has mastered the technique you gave her. Furthermore, she's mastered it in only half a day. That is all."

The messenger stopped writing for a moment. "You can't be serious," he scoffed.

"I am," the observer said, nodding. "I wouldn't have believed it either had I not seen it with my own eyes."

The messenger almost dropped his pen. "So, you actually saw it? Even as dark as it is?"

The observer stared with beady eyes. "The entire river valley area was illuminated by the moon overhead and several torches lit. I saw what I saw. Will you send the message or not?"

The messenger shrugged. "If it is indeed true then I shall unquestionably," he replied.

"Good. I want Hiruzen to know of this at once. That should get Jiraiya's attention."

The morning sun peeked in through the window to her hut. Naruko pulled herself to a seated position at the edge of the bed, slipping on her sandals. She stretched and stood up. After a few moments of getting her bearings she made her way to the bathroom, took off her clothes and showered. She grabbed a towel and dried off, changing into a clean outfit. She combed her blonde hair and tied a ponytail behind her head. She quickly made her way out of the hut and to the training area. Waiting for her was her trainer, and two other toads as well.

"So, what's on the schedule for today, guys?" she asked.

The first toad stepped forward. "Since you have mastered the Multi Shadow Clone technique, that means we'll be able to train at a faster pace," he explained. "You see, what one shadow clone learns, all the others will learn once it dissipates."

Naruko looked at him strangely. "I don't quite understand."

The toad nodded. "Ah," he said. "Make a clone."

She did as instructed. "There," she said.

He made a clone as well. "Clone Naruko, follow me." The clone of her walked away with the clone of him.

"What are our clones doing?" she asked.

"You'll find out," the instructor replied.

The clones stood far away from their originals, behind a rock. "So, what are we doing here?" clone Naruko asked.

"Let's play rock-paper-scissors," the trainer replied. They each pumped their fists twice, on the third time, the instructor revealed paper, while Naruko revealed scissors.

"I won!" Naruko exclaimed.

The trainer nodded. "Now dispel." Both of them did as instructed.

Naruko blinked a moment. "Ok! I get it!"

"The advantage of any of the Shadow Clone techniques," the trainer explained, "is that they aren't illusions. They're solid flesh and blood. The downside is, unless they are strengthened, they dispel with one hit, but whatever they learn, you learn."

Naruko shrugged. "So, how does that allow us to learn faster?"

"You'll have three clones, each one training with a different teacher," he answered. "That way, you'll learn in a third of the time."

Naruko suddenly beamed. "That's right! If there's three, it's a third! If there were four, it'd be a fourth!"

"Logically speaking," the toad continued, "if you had a thousand, it'd only take a thousandth of the time. You could learn twenty years' worth of something in just about a week."

"So, that's why you toads are so strong!" Naruko exclaimed.

The toad shook his head. "No. In fact, I've never trained this way."

She almost fell backwards. "But, why?"

"You're quite unique, Naruko-chan. You've got a lot more chakra."

She gasped. "I do?"

"Almost three and a half times more, in fact," he admitted. "It makes you naturally more capable than those of your peers. In terms of where you'd be in academy, you're almost equal to the top students. You're already good enough to graduate." He pointed at her for effect. "But don't let that get to your head. It's only with constant dedication to training and self-improvement that the best are the best."

"But everyone always called me a failure," she stated.

The toad shook his head. "No. Just as long as you keep working hard, you'll be fine. Now create two clones so you can get to training!"

She created two clones and each Naruko trained with a different master. In about two hours, she did three days' worth of training. Where before she'd do her schoolwork in her hut, she had twenty clones sit in the auditorium and each do a different subject, two per assignment. An entire week's schoolwork she'd finish in less than one evening. The night before Jiraiya was set to return and fulfill his bargain, Ma and Pa Toad held a meeting in the temple.

"My friends," Pa toad Fukasaku started, "I think we need to address the issue of Naruko."

Shima, Ma toad, agreed. "I think it's almost serendipity that she came to us. The fact that Lord Hokage failed to notice this potential is almost a sad failure on Konoha's part. She's learned more in the year she's been here than a Konoha academy student learns in the entire program."

"I think that if Jiraiya refuses to train her," Naruko's main instructor said, "we should continue to train her. We shouldn't give her back to Konoha until she's ready."

Gamabunta, who towered over the meeting, even offered his two cents. "I see a student of great potential, who is emotionally vulnerable," he said, trying to quiet his booming voice. "She flourishes because she feels cared for." He pointed off at the horizon. "Without the care of people to show her she is loved, she would turn into another Orochimaru, another Nagato."

Fukasaku looked upward. "Bunta, what would you suggest?"

"Pa-sama," Gamabunta said, "I would strongly suggest allowing her to enter into the Konoha academy and having Jiraiya train her on the side. That way, she could at least have people her age to talk to. I mean, not to sound degrading, but she's a human. She needs companionship we toads can't necessarily provide."

Shima looked at Fukasaku. "Pa, I think we should agree then," she said. "What we need to do is see if Jiraiya agrees to it, but we need her to have companions her age that are human."

Her trainer interjected. "I agree with you, she needs others of her kind and age."

Fukasaku turned to the group. "All in favor?" Every hand went up. "Agreed. Tomorrow, Jiraya returns, we tell him our plan."

The next morning, as soon as the sun came up, Jiraiya had been summoned. He had spent the year gathering data on the Akatsuki as well as Orochimaru, and had almost completely forgotten about Naruko and his bargain with the toads. He had heard from them that she mastered the multi shadow clone jutsu and that was something he definitely wanted to see.

Naruko noticed him right away. "Jiraiya-sensei!" she cried. "You came back!"

He scratched his head. "Yeah, I sure did." He sat down on a rock. "So, what's this I hear about you mastering the shadow clone jutsu? That's a jounin technique at least."

She smiled and put her fingers together. About six clones appeared around her. She dispelled them. "So, what do you think?"

He whistled in surprise. "That's amazing. I never would've pegged you for figuring that out that quickly."

"Really? You mean it?"

He hugged her. "I'm truly amazed. It shouldn't even be possible for you to do this technique. If you can do this then you're truly something. I was totally wrong to misjudge you; you're definitely going to get my training."

"I won't let you down!" She grasped onto him tighter.

"Oh, don't worry about letting me down, kiddo," he replied. "The first thing I want to do, you see, is to take you back to the village. We're going to see about you getting an official headband so you can start going on official missions."

The two of them were reverse summoned back to Konoha. Everyone noticed right away that Naruko seemed different. None of them could quite place it, but she no longer saw them as enemies. Now that she had the ability to fight back, she would defend herself if necessary. She wanted to be simply another villager, instead of the singled-out target she was. On her way back to the Konoha Academy, she stopped by the ramen shop and got a quick bowl to fill up. As she entered, with her sensei, into the office of Iruka, he couldn't help but see how much different her attitude was.

"You look awfully proud of yourself today," he noticed. "Is it because you've finished everything that I gave for you to do?"

"She actually did past your homework and finished the entire program," Jiraiya reminded.

Iruka did a double take. "How the hell did she finish the entire book in under a year?"

Naruko gave a grin and put her fingers together. In a puff of smoke, seven clones appeared. Iruka stared agape at the sight. "I did it this way," she answered.

"Multiple Shadow Clone technique," Iruka gasped. "That's not even a jutsu I could do properly."

"So, I'm assuming she graduates," Jiraiya said. "After all, I can't take her out of the village until she has a headband."

Iruka stood up from his desk and approached. "Please, let me ask you a favor," he implored.

Jiraiya folded his arms. "I really wanted to take her out and see the world, have her train with me while going on an adventure."

"Yes, I understand that," Iruka argued, "but I very seldom get students that are _this_ skilled. She's possible chunin material. I'd really like for her to stick around as a student assistant."

Naruko perked up. "What's a student assistant?"

Jiraiya looked down. "It's when a graduate is requested to stay on another term and help teach the students that are still in the program how to properly be a ninja," he explained. "If he wants you to stick around and be a student assistant, I'll still train you on the side, if that's really what you want."

Iruka closed in. "It'll only be until the end of this term," he said. "This year we've got a particularly interesting group of students."

Naruko found it difficult to weigh the options. She looked up. "How long would we be gone?"

Jiraiya thought about it, shaking his head left and right. "About five years. You'd be approaching your twelfth birthday when we got back."

She folded her arms, and furrowed her brow in thought. "Five years with Jiraiya-sama, or two years with Iruka-sensei and three years with Jiraiya-sama," she spoke. A minute passed. "You know what? I've always wanted to see the world with Jiraiya-sama. Iruka-sensei, I really don't think teaching is what I do good."

Iruka laughed. "What you do _well_, Naruko-chan," he corrected. "Well, in any case, I wish you the best of luck." He handed Naruko a headband out of his box. "Always think of me and think of the village. I know that this is a distinct honor that not a lot of people have had, training under Jiraiya-sensei privately for a long period of time, and I know he'll take good care of you and show you a lot of sights that you wouldn't otherwise have seen."

She smiled wide. "I will, Iruka-sensei!" Both Jiraiya and she headed off to five years of training and adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

One of the lookouts standing at his post in a tower above the entrance to Konoha let out a yawn as he continued his task of keeping track of who came and went. His tiredness quickly vanished as he saw a pair of targets at a distance. Jerking his hand down to grab his binoculars, he took a sharp breath as he stared out, hoping that he wouldn't have to defend the gate from an outside attack. When he poured his chakra into the binoculars to enhance the visual, his mood and expression brightened. He got out of his chair and bounded down to the ground below. "Jiraiya-sama! Naruko-chan!" he shouted, running up to them.

Jiraiya smiled as he saw the familiar village come into close view. He turned and said, "I bet you're going straight to see Iruka, ain't you?"

Naruko hugged his side. "Got it, sensei," she said, and quickly scooted off.

She dashed past the guards and the gate, making her way through the streets of her familiar home. The villagers looked at her oddly, having spent the last five years not having to see her around. She ignored some of their ugly looks and focused instead on the sight of the academy approaching her vision. The last time she saw Iruka, she had been a very less advanced student than she currently was. She longed to show her former teacher and still best friend some of the amazing things she'd learned on her journey.

Iruka exited his office and quickly jogged out the front door once he heard a very familiar voice cheerfully ringing down the street. He hadn't heard Naruko in such a happy mood in a very long time. She ran past the secretary near the entrance of the school and almost leapt into Iruka's arms. "Hey! You're back!" he shouted, holding her tight. "This place has been a lot quieter without you around." He held her at arm's length to see how she'd grown. "You've gotten taller, and I can't wait to see what you've learned!"

She gave him a thumbs-up. "I thought multi shadow clone technique was amazing," she admitted, "but you should see some of the other things that Jiraya-sensei taught me!"

"Let's not waste time," he said, standing up and walking quickly with her into the building.

"He taught me how to properly summon toads, how to use the fox's chakra, and I even learned this amazing technique he had called Rasengan!" she said, walking towards the training room.

Iruka shook his head in disbelief. "Rasengan?" he said. "Seriously! How the hell did you learn Rasengan? And wait, he told you about the fox?"

She looked up at him. "What's wrong with that?"

He couldn't stifle his amusement and surprise. "Nothing, it's just that the Fourth took almost a year to make rasengan, and only about three people in the world know that technique. That must've taken you almost a year or two to learn."

"Actually," she revealed, "I managed to do it in only about a week."

"Ha!" As he opened the door to the training hall, he rolled his eyes. "I can see you've still got the knack for telling tall tales."

"It's true," Jiraiya said, walking up.

Iruka jerked his head over to Jiraiya. "You're…kidding."

He spun towards Naruko. She grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. "See? Told ya."

He took a deep breath." A…mazing."

"Anyway, I've been travelling for quite a long time now, I'm going to go to my place and relax," Jiraiya interjected, then turning and walking away. "See you around, Naruko."

"See you, Jiraiya-sama!" She entered the gym area and set up a wooden training dummy. Standing a few feet away, she held her right hand out. A shadow clone appeared and created a swirling, glowing energy in her palm. As it swirled faster, it began to create a distinct sound. She then burst forth, jaunting ahead and planting the rasengan directly on the middle of the dummy's torso. As she shoved it in, the torso and entire upper body of the dummy exploded, leaving the legs and lots of tiny splinters of wood to fall to the ground.

Iruka whistled. "That was amazing form, Naruko!" He analyzed her attack. "Instead of wasting motion _running_ forward, you simply leaned and stepped in to attack with incredible speed. If you had actually stepped before leaning forward, you'd have wasted a precious half-second or so. Plus, you attacked with such suddenness that very few foes would have been able to dodge enough to avoid lethal damage."

She bowed. "Thank you, sensei."

He checked his watch. "Tell me something," he said. "I know you've spent a long time on your own, but I want to assign you to a typical three-man squad so you can get used to the normal business of doing missions. Are you ready for that?"

She nodded. "I am, sensei," she said.

He checked his watch again. "My last class for the day is the assigning class, where I assign everyone a team. Would you follow me please?"

She nodded and began following him. They walked down the hallways, passing by other teachers and their classes of students. Most of them were either already graduated, or were lower-level students in the process of learning grade levels that Naruko mastered years ago. After a brief bit of walking, they both entered the classroom where Iruka had been teaching since he first became a chuunin.

"Students," he began, "I'm sure you're all familiar with Naruko, and how she's been away for a while. She's here because she's going to be assigned to a team just like the rest of you will."

"Nice to meet ya," she said, bowing. Nobody said anything.

"Now," Iruka continued, "When I call your names, you are free to leave. Naruko, since I don't want to waste your time, I'll start with you. You're on team seven with Sakura Haruno," from the second row above the ground came a loud yell of disapproval, "and Sasuke Uchiha." The same person then gave a very approving shout.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei," Naruko said, bowing and exiting the room. She walked down the hallway, slower than her usual rapid pace of walking, because she wanted to wait for her teammates. The very next thing she knew would happen would be to be assigned to a jounin and given to a training exercise. She looked across the signs on the wall to where the waiting room for team seven was, and entered, waiting.

Not five minutes later, a girl came storming in. "You!" she shouted, pointing to Naruko. "I don't know what you did to get Iruka-sensei to put you on a team with Sasuke-kun, but I'm not about to lose to you!"

Naruko lowered her eyebrows for just a moment, staring. Then she forced herself to cheer up. "So you're Sakura. Nice to meet you!" She held out her hand.

Sakura pushed it aside. "If I'm not about to let Ino get in the way of my love for Sasuke, I sure as hell ain't about to let you!"

"I need you to get something," Naruko said, standing firmly. "This isn't a game. How can I be trying to get between you and Sasuke, when I know nothing about you!"

Sakura gave her a stronger glare than before. "Are you saying I'm not important enough to know about?"

"_No, Sakura,_" she said. "I have zero interest in Sasuke that way. You can have him all to yourself. Don't get all worked up over something that isn't happening."

Sakura sat down, folding her arms. "Hmph. Well, just know that I'm watching you."

"Good," Naruko countered. "That means that we're both keeping track of each other, which is what teammates do." She leaned back, resting her head in her hands, rolling her eyes as she reclined in her chair. _Geez_, she thought. _Great first impression_.

Sasuke entered a few moments later. Sakura practically shot out of her chair to hug him. "Sasuke-_kun_!" she cried. He had a distinct look of his desire not to be hugged, but she ignored it, clasping tighter.

Naruko turned her head away from them and rolled her eyes. _GEEZ. Couldn't get any more fan-girly, can you?_ she thought.

"I think since we're going to be working together, we should agree to get _along_," she said. She looked at Sakura. "If we get distracted by pointless bullshit, we'll never succeed as ninja."

Sasuke ignored her attempt to shake his hand, sitting down. "I guess."

"I'm glad we get to work together, Sasuke-_kun_!" Sakura chimed in. Naruko sat down and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," Sasuke replied.

"You know what? I'm glad you completely distrust and disrespect me," Naruko said to Sakura, currently holding on to Sasuke. "Why don't you tell me why?"

Sakura disconnected from Sasuke, and folded her arms. "You're trying to get between me and Sasuke!"

Naruko shook her head. "I don't give _two shits_ about you and Sasuke!" She stormed closer. "I've gotten tired of everyone treating me like shit. This bullshit argument you've got is incredibly annoying. Why are you so adamant about romance? You think if you put some of that drive into training?"

Sakura clenched a fist. "Oh yeah? You think you're such an amazing shinobi?" She pounded her fist into her open palm. "Come on. Until our sensei gets here, just you and me."

Naruko let out a pleased sigh. "I was kinda waiting for that," she said, popping her knuckles. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"_Shannaro!_" Sakura exploded forward from where she was standing. Sasuke leaned back in his chair, not even looking at the two.

Sakura went in for a punch that Naruko brushed aside with remarkable ease. Naruko grabbed Sakura's leg and flipped her over in one smooth motion. Sakura landed deftly on her opposing foot, aiming to throw a kick at her blonde opponent's face, only to find the air empty. "What…?" she uttered.

Naruko draped her right arm around Sakura's neck and pushed against the back of her head. "You let me get you in a hold," she explained to the pink-haired kunoichi. "Against an opponent like me, that means this fight's over." She let go and backed off. "Now calm down."

"The _hell I'll calm down_!" she charged her opponent. This time, Naruko didn't even bother to engage her, she simply held the fist with one hand and clamped down on her foe's throat with another.

"I told you to calm down," Naruko repeated.

"She got you, Sakura," Sasuke nonchalantly echoed from the seats. "In a one on one, speed always wins."

Sakura looked at him and back at Naruko and returned to her seat in a huff. "I could've won," she pouted.

"Not with that speed, Sakura," Naruko replied. "You need to work on your speed because you leave opponents wide areas to grab you."

"Naruko." Sasuke said flatly.

Both looked at him. "What?" Naruko fired back.

He stood up. "You got a chance to gauge her," he said, "now I want to gauge you."

Naruko gave him a threatening grin. "You want to see how you match up to me?" she said.

"I want to see how _you_ measure up to an _Uchiha_," he corrected.

Her positive look darkened into a somewhat angry frown. "A bit arrogant, aren't you?"

"Stop talking and fight."

Sasuke lowered into a fairly common stance. Naruko took up an offensive stance. They both launched at each other at the same time. Sasuke went for a rising right knee that Naruko blocked with one arm and quickly had to grab a punch with her other. He pulled back and shifted to a low kick aimed at her left shin, which she turned to avoid and turned inward with a punch that he leaned backward to avoid, bringing up his foot for a spin kick mid-turn. She nimbly ducked below the kick and then leaned back to avoid a straight palm strike. Rapidly bending again, she pulled her stomach back to avoid another punch. She stepped back. He jump-kicked at her torso, she caught his right leg under her arm and turned around, throwing him. He landed on his hands and sprang onto his feet. Immediately he leaned back, letting a punch sail over him. Using the momentum, he dropped, throwing up his feet in an attempt to kick her in the face. She scooted backwards just in time, causing him to land on his upper back and kip-up to a standing position. He blocked a punch of hers and attempted to turn inward to an elbow strike to the head. She managed to block and tried to use the proximity to headbutt him. With significant speed, he turned out of the way, got behind her, and pushed her forward.

"Got you!" he cried, as she stumbled forward.

He went for a rushing attack, but she recovered from the push much faster than he anticipated. She leapt, spun mid-air, and landed a vicious downward right punch square on his forehead, knocking him both down and senseless.

"I win," Naruko said.

Sasuke pushed his way to standing. "Damn it!" he shouted.

"I'm glad I got to fight someone like you," she said. "You're really good."

"Not good enough," he whispered under his breath.

Sakura hugged Sasuke. "Sasuke, are you ok?" She turned to Naruko. "How _dare_ you…"

"Damn it Sakura_ give it a rest!_" Sasuke's bellow caused her to sit down and tense up. He walked over to his desk and sat down, rubbing his head and looking at Naruko. "How'd you learn to fight like that? Is this the product of Jiraiya's training?"

"Jiraiya-sama gave me tips and basics," Naruko explained, "but I was left to train myself. He has a lot of business I can't talk about."

He silently cursed and sat pondering something. Naruko sat down, just staring at him for a moment. _Why does it seem like that _wasn't_ the answer he wanted?_ she thought. _It's like he _wanted _my skill to come entirely from Jiraiya-sama._ She leaned back in her seat, ignoring the thought. It was approximately two whole minutes later before their sensei walked in.

The sensei, a gray-haired shinobi wearing a mask covering from his nose down, quickly glanced at the group and thought for a moment. "Let me introduce myself," he began. "My name is Kakashi, and I'll be your sensei, and based on my immediate impression, I hate all of you."

The group then followed him out of the school compound and out into the open area out behind in the recreation area. He sat down with them and made a gesture of openness. "Well, you already know my name, Hatake Kakashi, and so, I figured we'd start with an exercise on trust. Tell me about yourselves. Hopes, dreams, whatever. Be open and honest with me."

Naruko stood up. "I'm Naruko Uzumaki, I really like ramen! Especially when Iruka-sensei or Jiraiya-sensei take me out to eat!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. _Does she think of anything else?_

"My dream in life, is to become the greatest Hokage that ever reigned!" She sat down, ignoring the looks Sakura and Sasuke were giving her.

Kakashi grinned under his mask. _At least she's grown, in a way._

"I'm Sakura Haruno," Sakura explained. "My dream is…well, my goal is…" Naruko gave her a glare, and she looked over and gave an angry sneer, then turned back. "The person I hate is Naruko!" Naruko gave a humored smile and rolled her eyes.

Sasuke didn't bother to stand. "Sasuke Uchiha," he stated. "I don't particularly have any goals, but I do have an ambition. There's a certain someone I want to kill." Sakura swooned at how deep she perceived Sasuke to be. Naruko just rolled her eyes again.

Kakashi stood up. "Alright," he began. "Now that that's over, we can focus on the next thing: survival training."

Sakura and Sasuke both stared. "We did plenty of that in academy," she questioned. "Why do we have to focus on survival training?"

"That was just the basics," Kakashi explained. "This'll be a full-on test of your survival skill. Under something similar to 'real' circumstances."

Sasuke cocked his head. "What do you mean by 'real' circumstances?"

Naruko folded her arms. "He means we'll be graded based on how well we do," she said, rolling her eyes. "It also means this won't be a child's exercise. We'll be actually fighting for real."

"That's right, Naruko," he replied. "It also means if you fail, you'll be sent back to the academy."

Sakura almost fell over. "What! Are you _kidding?_" She pointed at him angrily. "What the hell did we go through graduation for?"

Naruko put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "That was just to see which of us had the potential to become genin in the first place," she reminded her.

"Right again." Kakashi pointed at Naruko for a moment before turning back to Sakura. "Twenty-seven students graduated the academy right away; nine will become full-fledged shinobi genin. The rest will go back for more training."

Sasuke let out a nasal sigh. "Just another pointless setback," he uttered.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow out on the field," Kakashi said, leaving. "Don't eat breakfast unless you enjoy vomiting."

Naruko turned from where Kakashi was standing to her two teammates, who were walking away. "Guys! Don't leave yet! Let me talk to you a minute!"

Sasuke stopped, turned, and folded his arms while standing in a bored position. "What do _you_ want now, idiot?"

Sakura stomped. "Look, you! You don't understand! If I fail, I'll be separated from my Sasuke! This is a test of love!"

Naruko clenched her fists. "Will you two _GET OVER YOUR DAMN SELVES!"_

"Whoa!" Sakura screeched, falling over. Sasuke stumbled backwards, not expecting her yell.

Naruko huffed. "Look. Guys." She made a calming motion with her hands. "Guys. You don't understand what's at play here. This isn't some baby's game. This is a serious matter. If we don't work together, we will _not pass_. That means another few years of academy. You'll be a student until you're almost _fifteen._ I don't want that."

Sakura and Sasuke turned away. "No," Sasuke said, furrowing his brow, "you're probably right. Kakashi's not a teacher, and he's not a chunin either. He's the best."

"Jounin are elite," Sakura concurred.

"Now, I _know_ you guys probably won't like this," Naruko began, "but if we're going to work together to take down Kakashi, we'll have to combine what we're good at to keep him from seeing what we're bad at."

"To play off our weaknesses is his best strategy," Sasuke said, "so we need to play off each other's strengths."

"Which means we have to talk about it, damnit," Sakura sheepishly said.

"Jiraiya always told me my weakness is that I try to do too much myself," Naruko explained. "Which means I need to have someone with me at all times. Sasuke is the best choice…"

Sakura stomped again. "See? I knew it! You're wanting to be with…"

"Shh!" Sakura went silent. "As I was saying, Sakura, Sasuke is the best choice because he isn't a distance fighter. Like me, based on what I've seen, he does best getting right down and dirty with the enemy."

"So what about me?"

"You, Sakura, should be at a distance and suddenly strike while we have Kakashi focused on us. With both him and me on it, Kakashi won't have a chance to notice you. I hope."

Sasuke folded his arms again. "That's your big plan? How lame. I could've come up with that. That's as basic as it gets. I think we should lay traps for him and ambush him."

Naruko waved her hands to the side. "I thought of that one, but Kakashi isn't likely to fall for any traps we could lay for him. He's not going to fall for that one. We'd be better off forcing him to fight one of us while another strikes from behind. I don't know what the goal of the exercise is going to be, but more than likely it's going to be to either get or protect some object."

Sakura leaned on Sasuke. "I think we should go with Sasuke's plan."

Naruko clenched her fists again. "Look. If you want to go with his plan, fine. I'll go with it. We have to work as a team." Both of her teammates smiled. "But answer me one question. Tell me honestly that you can think of some trap that you believe a jounin twice our age won't have, and I will submit to you on this."

Sasuke pushed Sakura's hand off him. "You have to have everything your way, don't you? Well, let me tell you. I have a bunch of ideas for traps that'd work."

"Let me in on it."

"For example…"

Naruko waited several moments. When Sasuke had no response, she smiled a bit. "Thought so. Now, this isn't about me. This is about us, NOT going back to academy. Got it?" They both nodded. "Good. So, since we don't know a great deal about him, or his abilities, other than him being really good, we have to test him. Now, nobody let their ego get in the way. None of us are at a level near his. We have to test his abilities first."

"So we're up against an opponent we know almost nothing about," Sasuke said, "who has a huge advantage over us, where we have a slim to none chance of winning, and where we don't even know the conditions for victory?" He grinned. "Sounds like my kinda fight."

The next day, the newly-formed Team Seven took their place on the field. They waited patiently for their sensei to arrive. None of them stood pleased due to the perpetually late Kakashi. He arrived after many long minutes of them staring at the open field. Naruko took care to analyze the surroundings. _Hmm,_ she thought, _there's plenty of room for cover and we have to deal with the fact that he is almost certainly an expert at hiding and remaining covered. Damn it, I don't want to draw this out._ She leaned against a rock and thought of several possible ways of attacking.

Kakashi arrived in a puff of smoke. He hastily analyzed the three of them. "Looks to me like the three of you actually came to something of an agreement yesterday," he noticed. They could see a smile under his mask. "You guys are taking me seriously and are listening to reason; I like that." He produced two bells that hung from his belt. "Here is the exercise: by lunchtime, set on that clock over there, you three are to take these two bells. Anyone who has a bell gets to eat. Anyone who doesn't have a bell, well, they get tied to the pole."

Sakura raised her hand. "Sensei, there are only two bells. So does that mean someone doesn't eat?"

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly. Only those who are good enough to get the bells get to eat. When I say go, you can start."

Naruko quickly shot her a look. Sakura gave a disapproving "hmph" but didn't argue further. Sasuke just folded his arms; he seemed to understand what his blonde-haired teammate implied. The eager moments passed by. Kakashi seemed to want to get as good a grasp of them as possible, looking back and forth at the surroundings for long seconds before briefly turning back to his team.

"Go!"

With their sensei's shout, the team spread out in different directions. Each one of them went in the direction that the plan seemed to imply. Sasuke took to hiding in areas that he thought it would be difficult to be spotted in, and Sakura managed to take to the trees right away. Each of them could see their target from where he stood. Even though they were almost certain he would find them extremely quickly, none of them varied from the agreement. Naruko, dashing under the brush, with mouse-like footsteps, held her breath for moments at a time. All the responsibility was on her; as Jiraiya's student, she alone had assumed the responsibility of formulating a strategy.

Kakashi moved along the outer areas where he could more easily set traps, each time checking in every way taught to him. _The last thing I want,_ he thought, _is for some low-ranked genin to take me by surprise._ He felt intent to attack and spun around in more than enough time to brush aside a pocket-size shuriken. "So, it's Sakura that attacks first!" He threw a kunai in her direction and moved in to attack. _I wouldn't do this normally, but the fact that they're sending her out first tells me something._ He drew his arm up to attack.

Sakura clenched up, fearful. Kakashi smirked slightly under his mask. He thrust his blade downward. Almost at the last moment, Sakura moved backward. He stopped his attack just in time to see a leg coming his way. "Hyah!" Sasuke shouted, coming in for the surprise flying kick.

_Damn it! _Kakashi thought. _I was careless!_ He blocked the kick and another that came after, almost effortlessly. Even with the fluster of almost being caught off guard, he still managed to switch into taijutsu mode at once.

Sasuke bounded backwards in order to deliver an intense strike to the chest, which Kakashi pushed away. "You're good," Kakashi said, puffing between blows to catch his breath. "I can't even slack off for a moment."

Naruko came up from below the ground and went for the waist. Her target swiveled his waist to prioritize. She landed on her feet and went in for a combination of punches in time with Sasuke's kick-based taijutsu. He would go for a spin kick to the head, Kakashi would dodge, which put him immediately in the path of Naruko's arm thrust. "I'm impressed with how well you two flow your attacks together. It's almost like clockwork. You might just make it." He turned the tide by catching both their attacks midair and pushing them backward. "But ultimately, you seem to be a bunch of good ideas with little flavor."

As the two of them struggled to keep him at bay, kicking and punching with all their skill, Kakashi managed to utilize his greater experience in order to take advantage of things that none of them could have anticipated.

"Now!" Naruko shouted, looking over Kakashi's shoulder.

Kakashi tensed up for a brief moment. _What? I didn't sense anything in that direction!_ Without turning his head, he focused his feelings as best he could behind him.

Naruko immediately lunged for the waist, and Sasuke went in the upward direction, bounding off of her back. Sakura came in from the side. Kakashi swore silently as he realized the truth and did his best to move in the direction they weren't blocking. With a single jump, he landed outside of their attack zone.

"It seems you truly are the embodiment of unpredictability," Kakashi praised. "You faked me out perfectly. If it had been another jounin, I would've immediately known they wouldn't signal a comrade by yelling."

"But ya thought a knucklehead would!" Naruko exclaimed.

"As brilliant as your scheme was, I still have…" he reached for his hip and immediately felt like an idiot. "I still have…completely been outdone."

Sakura and Sasuke each held up a bell. "We got it, sensei!" she shouted.

He shrugged. "Alright. I guess there's always a first time to look like an idiot." He led them over to the area by the stump. "Since you guys did so well working together, and listening to your team leader…"

Sasuke immediately protested. "She's _not_ the team leader!" he said. "All I did was go along with her plan because it sounded good. Next time we go with my plan!"

Naruko gave him a dirty look. "Yes, let's go with _your_ plan, mister I-love-traps-that-don't-work."

"Hey! Leave Sasuke alone!" Sakura shouted.

"Enough!" Kakashi said. _Oy. They might meld their strategies well, but they don't have good personable skills, _he thought. "Anyway, since it was Sakura and Sasuke that were holding the bells, Naruko doesn't get to eat."

Naruko pumped her arms above her head. "Hey! It was _my_ plan!" She clenched her teeth angrily.

"My rules, kids," Kakashi replied. "Anyway, I'm going to be taking a break. When I get back, we do exercise two. Now, I swear to heaven above, if I see any of you feeding Naruko, all of you will fail!" He walked away.

Sakura gave a half-grin. "Serves you right, Naruko." She started eating from her box.

Sasuke looked at Naruko, standing mad with arms folded, and offered her his box. "Eat half," he said.

Sakura looked at him. "Sasuke, you heard what Kakashi-sensei said! We can't do that, we'll fail!"

Sasuke returned only disdain. "Sakura, listen. If you fight hungry, you're a hindrance to your team. I don't want to fail just because I couldn't make up for the shortcomings of another teammate."

Sakura reluctantly handed over her box. Naruko started eating her portion. At once Kakashi emerged in a puff of smoke, snorting from his nose and his eyebrows turned downward in anger. "_You guys…!"_

All three of them tensed up.

"Pass!" His wrath melted into a pleased smile.

Naruko turned up an eyebrow. "Uh, wha?"

Sakura shrugged. "But you just said…!"

Kakashi folded his arms. "Have you ever heard of the rules within the rules?"

Naruko looked left and right. "There's what?"

"A shinobi is not just an instrument whose only purpose is to do whatever he is told," he explained. "A shinobi has a dual purpose. A shinobi is also there to determine the meanings underneath the meanings. For example, I've failed lots of students because, when it came to this part, all they did was exactly what I told them, without question."

"But that's what we're basically to do as shinobi," Sasuke countered.

"This whole experiment was designed to accomplish two things: first, to ascertain if you can overcome the attempts to divide you amongst yourselves, and second, to see if you can determine the best outcome instead of just the stated outcome."

"So the bells and the food were to make us fight against each other?"

"Yes, Sakura," Kakashi confirmed. "In a mission, there absolutely must be no infighting. Any at all can cause the death of an entire team and the loss of important information. Also, remember these words: those who disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are lower than trash."

Naruko pumped a fist. "Yeah!"

Sasuke glanced at her. "What_ever_."

Sakura ran over and hugged Sasuke. "We're full-fledged ninja now! Now we don't have to be separated!"

Sasuke sighed. "_Joy._" He said.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Naruko Sasuke, and Sakura entered the missions office. Naruko, wearing a frown, handed a rather unhappy feline into the hands of its owner. "Mission complete, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, collecting a small fee for his team's services.

"So, what's next?" Naruko asked, leaning against a table along the wall, folding her arms. "Another mission where we get someone's pet? A rabbit, maybe?"

"I saw you rolling your eyes," Iruka replied. "You're a team of low-ranked ninja; you aren't at the level yet where you get to pick big, high-ranked missions."

Naruko let out a snort. "Y'know, I'm trying my best not to be ungrateful, since I _am_ making my own money for the first time, but can I please get a mission where I can, maybe, _live up_ to Jiraiya-sama's teachings?"

"There's an old saying," Iruka added, "it says that the better you are, the more you should be careful about how you do things. You're an exceptional student—but perhaps you should still take it easy."

"You know," Hiruzen countered, "if this is a team that aspires to arise in skill and rank, we should at least let them test their skills out a bit.

Kakashi shrugged. "I suppose that could work out for the best," he admitted. "After all, they could always use a good reason to test their teamwork."

At that point, an elderly man staggered in. "So, this's the team that's supposed to keep me safe until I get the bridge done?" He sighed. "That's doesn't give me much confidence."

Naruko pointed at him. "You come in here stinking of cheap booze and you gotta call us names? What makes you so important?"

Hiruzen interrupted. "Kakashi, this is Tazuna, and he's requested that a team be sent to keep him safe from bandits and do general bodyguard duty until he completes the bridge safely."

Kakashi shrugged. "Sounds simple enough," he replied. He turned to his team. "Naruko, do you think that's up to your level of skill?"

"_Smartass_," she shot back. "I just don't want to get rusty, that's all."

"At least we'll get to test our might against _something,_" Sasuke added.

"Don't get _too_ fixated on that," Kakashi warned, writing down his team's name in the official book next to the mission. "This is a C-ranked mission; there's probably not going to be a large amount of excitement going on."

"Just basic wandering bandits, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yup. Nothing too major."

The team set out, forming a basic perimeter around their target, walking slowly. Naruko took a few bites of a stick of jerky. Sasuke kept lookout, but otherwise didn't care. Sakura didn't pay too much attention to Tazuna; her real target was Sasuke, and she focused intently on him. The first hour of walking passed without problem. Twenty minutes or so later, though, Naruko made an observation that she knew her sensei would make, and she mentally prepared herself for an upcoming assault.

It wasn't a whole two minutes after that, when a pair of shinobi wielding claws and spiked chains burst forth from puddles on the ground. The jagged chains wrapped themselves around Kakashi, ensnaring him and ripping, leaving a huge cloud of dust and the sound of chunks hitting the ground. Sasuke and Sakura both clammed up; Naruko sprung backwards to be in front of Tazuna. Sasuke acted, throwing a shuriken to stick both the chains to a tree long enough to jump above them and attempt a downward thrust. They ignored his attack and charged the old man.

Naruko sprang into action, dodging a poisoned claw slash, and bringing both flat hands upward to chop them in the throat. Instinctively, the two stopped charging to catch their breath, which allowed the blonde kunoichi to impact both of them with a rising knee to the face. They stumbled backward and tried to recover for a forward assault.

Kakashi would never give them the chance, catching both of them with a grapple that caused them both to lose consciousness in seconds. Then they tied them to a tree.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled. "You're alive!"

"_Of course_ he's alive," Naruko rebuffed, "he used replacement jutsu."

"And _you_," Kakashi turned to Tazuna, "have quite a deal of explaining to do."

Tazuna folded his arms. "What're you talking about?"

"This is a _basic_ protection mission," he replied. "That means we protect you against basic threats such as bandits, roving thieves, and the like."

"People that ain't important," Naruko added. "But this was a ninja assault aimed at you."

"If they were after one of us, they probably wouldn't have bothered with you at all, but as Naruko explained, this means we were almost irrelevant; their target was you."

"Hey, good news though!" Naruko joked. "Now we get our first high-ranking mission!"

Kakashi turned to her. "Don't joke like that. We're going back to the village immediately. We're not staffed right for this mission."

"Look, his village is probably poor," Naruko pleaded. "He only lied because they probably don't have the money for something like this."

Tazuna capitalized on the moment. "Exactly, it's like she says! Look, you know why protecting me is so important? Because Gato is trying to shut down our village's bridge project. If we fail to finish the bridge, that means that his shipping company can continue to be the only force in the area. He has our village in a death grip."

Kakashi scratched his head. "Alright, alright," he conceded. "But here's the deal; from now on, nobody lies. If there's any information that's kept out of our grasp at this point, we're going to abort the mission immediately. Understood?" Tazuna nodded. "Ok. Let's go then."

They soon made their way to the dock, where a small boat with a rower awaited. The team clamored in and the man hit the engine. "Once we hit the two-thirds mark, we have to kill the engine and row manually to avoid being detected," he explained. "Understood?" Everyone nodded.

As the bridge started to come into focus through the mist on the horizon, the rower killed the engine and started paddling. Underneath the cover of the fog, the boat turned slightly. "I think we'll be fine," the rower explained, "but I think we'll be even safer if we take the pathway through the vegetation."

"Makes sense," Kakashi replied.

The next ten minutes crept by slowly and uncomfortably as they slid onwards to the dock. Once on dry land once again they snuck through passageways the villagers knew well, avoiding the more well-known flora. The entire team kept their wits about them as the sounds of the surrounding wilderness unnerved them several times. They were almost to a lake by an open field at the forest's edge, signaling the halfway mark, when an voice echoed.

"_I'll _be taking the old man," a deep voice said.

Kakashi looked up. "Zabuza Momochi," he recognized.

Naruko instinctively threw her arms out to her sides, signaling her teammates to take the old man and back up. _I don't have to know this guy to see his killing intent,_ she recognized. She took to heart what Jiraiya had taught her. _I'm probably going to have to get rough._ She gave a look to Sakura and Sasuke to tell them not to try anything.

Kakashi removed his headband from across his left eye. "It's been awhile, since I've had to fight with this," he said.

Both Sasuke and Zabuza recognized it. "The Sharingan," the assassin said. "Copycat Kakashi, master of over a thousand jutsu. I know you from my bingo book."

"Well, I know you too," Kakashi shot back. "Missing-nin Zabuza, trying to raise money to launch another assassination attempt on the Mizukage."

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to take out the old man to get paid," he simply replied. "Nothing personal."

Kakashi dropped into a stance. "Nothing personal, _indeed_."

Zabuza activated a jutsu that covered the entire area in a thick mist that dampened everyone's vision. Kakashi managed to narrowly dodge a slash from the assassin's huge decapitator's blade, the clone disappearing in a burst of fluid. Zabuza almost flinched. _He can copy even in _this_ fog_? He thought.

Naruko kept her hearing about her, making sure not to get caught by surprise. As her team leader and sensei traded jutsu with the killer, she kept her heartbeat steady. Jiraiya had taught her as best he could to keep calm in a situation. Sasuke, however, was about to lose it. Zabuza, in an attempt to reveal the group's position, started naming off lethal points on the human body to attack. This had the desired effect, as Sasuke's breathing picked up, which Zabuza immediately reacted to.

He immediately attacked, appearing in front of them and slashing at Tazuna. Naruko pushed him back instinctively just a moment before Kakashi arrived and drove Zabuza backwards. Each slash attempt and forward strike served to separate the enemy from his target. "Don't worry," Kakashi said to Sasuke, "even if he gets me, I won't let him get to you. I protect my comrades with my life."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Zabuza retorted. "A real ninja doesn't deal in feelings. A real ninja doesn't play at being a ninja."

The mist began to drop slightly as Kakashi managed to use another water clone trap to get behind Zabuza with a kunai to his throat. "It's over, Zabuza," he said.

"I'm not that easy to fool!" The real Zabuza said, appearing behind Kakashi.

_What?!_ Kakashi, not expecting another clone, leapt over him to try and evade over the water. As he landed, however, his folly became immediately apparent. _Shit! This water's heavy!_

"Water prison!" Zabuza yelled, ensnaring his foe in a sphere of liquid.

"Take Tazuna and run!" Kakashi yelled. "The fight ended the moment he got me! His water clone can't get far from him."

Naruko looked at Sasuke. "I've got a plan," she said.

"Damn it, Naruko! Don't try to be a hero! Just remember the mission!"

Zabuza chuckled. "You should listen to your master," he said. "After all, you're not a real ninja unless you stick to the mission."

"You think I'm gonna be scared of you just because you're an eyebrow-less freak?"

"Oh, how touching. You care for your master. But you know what? By the time I was your age, I'd already made a name for myself having dyed my hands in blood!"

"You graduated by killing a hundred members of your year's class!" Kakashi yelled. He turned to his team. "Which is why you should run away!"

Naruko took a stack of large kunai out of her pack and tossed them to Sasuke. He set them into a windmill shuriken shape and started spinning them around. He charged forward and aimed for Zabuza. _Damn it,_ Kakashi thought, _you guys should've run away!_ He knew what would happen; their attack would miss and then the water clone would go on the offensive.

"Hah!" Zabuza's clone shouted. "You'll never get…huh?"

The windmill shuriken zoomed clear past the clone and headed for Zabuza himself, still holding Kakashi prison in the water. The team looked on in hope as it sailed towards him.

He managed to jump over it. "Amateurs!" he shouted.

With a puff of smoke the shuriken revealed itself to be Naruko. She at once landed on the water, and burst forth, pumping a huge volume of chakra into her legs to boost speed. Zabuza's eyes went wide in shock, as she closed in on him. She drew up her right arm, a spiral of chakra gathering, and saw him draw up his arm for defense._ No, you don't!_ she thought. She launched the attack forward, aiming for his torso. He slammed his hand onto her right wrist, stopping the attack.

"RAAH!" With a summon of a small amount of Kyuubi chakra, her leg muscle strength tripled, and she pushed forward, overcoming his otherwise-incredible arm strength. "RASENGAN!" she shouted, as the spiraling ball connected. The explosive power of the attack broke his connection to Kakashi and launched him backwards.

"You did great, Naruko," Kakashi said, panting. The opponent lay on the ground just past the water, smoke coming from the burn on his abdomen. If he hadn't summoned chakra to the area at the last possible moment, he'd have a huge hole where his navel currently was. "Now, it's time to deal with our friend here. For you, Zabuza, a would-be revolutionary who attempted a coup on the Mizukage, I'll spare you the punishment your former villagers would do to you."

Almost at that exact moment, three acupuncture needles sailed out of the air and impaled Zabuza's neck, right as he attempted to stand up. He fell limp. "No, I think that pleasure still belongs to me," a mysterious figure wearing an Anbu mask and a hunter kimono said, landing near them.

"Who're you?" Sakura asked.

"Looks like hunter-nin," Kakashi replied. He reached down and felt Zabuza's neck. "Well, you did the trick. He's definitely dead." He looked over at the Mist ninja. "So, you're dispatched to take out Zabuza?"

"He's one of our high priority targets," the ninja explained, his voice soft. "I'm glad I caught up with him, although it seems you've done quite a bit on him already."

Kakashi sat on a rock to catch his breath. "Just doing our job."

The Mist ninja draped the corpse's arm around his neck and leapt into the trees. Tazuna smiled and congratulated all three of them, and while Sakura and Sasuke were talking to him, Naruko walked up to Kakashi. "Sensei," she whispered. "Don't you think it's a little weird what just happened?"

"He took the corpse," Kakashi replied. "He should've destroyed it right here. I'm glad you picked up on that."

_So even sensei thinks his job was to rescue Zabuza_, Naruko thought. "What are we going to do?"

"You were Jiraiya's student," he answered, "and you did an exceptional job back there getting me out of his jutsu. I want you to follow them."

"You trust me to _spy_ on them?" she answered. "I'm not even a chuunin!"

He patted her on the shoulder. "You'll do fine. I have faith in my master's master."

Naruko nodded and took off. She used her chakra to conceal the sound of her footfalls. Just like Jiraiya taught her, she made sure, with each step, to land on the sturdiest branches using the middle of her foot for landing. That way, she could avoid breaking branches with the full force of the heel. She kept her target in sight, without being seen, by changing the angle of pursuit. Every few dozen yards, she moved left or right based on the position of the target's head. Eventually, the target came to rest in a wide open area. She backed off and hid behind a rock.

She saw Zabuza slowly creep back to life. He sat upright and forcibly ripped the needles out of his neck. The hunter ninja admonished him for not being more careful, but he didn't listen, and chastised his assistant for being so exacting. "You're such a sadistic brat, Haku," Zabuza said. Naruko memorized their names, and especially Haku's face, once he removed his mask. "Why're you still wearing that?"

"It reminds me of the old days," Haku said. "And also, it helped in our escape."

Naruko stared in amazement at how feminine the boy looked. "The next time we meet, I will defeat those Konoha bastards," Zabuza proclaimed.

Haku then helped him stand. "Don't try to move so fast," he explained. "You'll be pretty weak for a little while."

"Right now," Zabuza said, "let's return to base. It'll give me time to plan."

Naruko followed them just until she saw their base: A large, hastily built tree-borne structure in the middle of dense wilderness. She memorized the location and headed off. It took her a few hours, but she caught back up with her team. "Okay, I got the information we need," she said. They made their way to Tazuna's house, where they set up a schedule of who would watch and when.

"We need to take advantage of their weakness and strike!" Sasuke said.

"Calm, please," Kakashi said, resting. "They've shown their ace card relatively quickly. If Gato had a more powerful shinobi up his sleeve, I think he would've shown it. From the standpoint of a military commander, it makes more sense to do everything you can to prevent your target from getting to base."

"Plus, we know where he's coming from," Naruko said. "We can keep track of who's coming or going by watching the locale."

"But, couldn't they just take another route?" Sakura asked.

"They could," Kakashi said, "but more than likely, they'll feel like they won't need to. There's only so many different ways they could go, and now that they know we're at home base, they won't worry about taking shortcuts to get here sooner."

"Won't they want to sneak up on us?" Sasuke inquired.

Naruko sorted her things out on the floor. "They would love to," she replied, "but they're not going to be able to just do that."

Sasuke turned to face her. "Oh _yeah_?" He rested his head on his fist. "Tell me why not."

Kakashi sighed. "Because we're going to keep a lookout in turns," he answered. "And furthermore, the death-like state that Zabuza is in means he won't be sent to attack us. He's in very much a weakened state."

"What are we going to do?" Sakura interrupted.

Naruko turned to Kakashi. "Yeah, what part of the training do you think they should get?"

Sasuke stood up and approached her. "Hey! Stop talking down to us as if you're superior! You're still a genin just like us."

Naruko rolled her eyes. "Sasuke," she calmly said. "The fact that I received a great deal more training than you two is _not_ a bragging point. I'm trying to work together here."

"She's not rubbing it in your face," Kakashi countered. "She's simply assisting me in my command decisions because she has been trained in tactics by the master of my former master."

"The Fourth Hokage was Kakashi-sensei's sensei," Naruko explained, "and Jiraiya-sensei was the Fourth Hokage's sensei. I'm not pulling rank; I'm just trying to help."

Kakashi turned to her. "I'm assuming you've been taught how to climb trees."

Sakura nearly fell over. "But that's simple…!"

Naruko threw up a hand to silence her. "Yes, sensei, and I've also mastered water-walking."

Both Sasuke and Sakura turned to Kakashi. "What?" Sasuke inquired.

"Good! It's settled then," Kakashi explained. "Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we're going to be doing tree-climbing with chakra."

Sasuke interrupted. "Wait, did you say, _water walking_?"

Naruko turned to him. "One step at a time, slick," she said. "You can't learn one until you've learned the other."

Each of the genin took a turn watching the house. The evening passed uneventfully, to the pleasure of each of the team, and when morning came, each of them gathered in the woods to train. Both Sakura and Sasuke were eager to figure out exactly what their sensei meant by climbing trees with chakra. Naruko demonstrated for them by walking up the side of a tree without once using her hands. The other two could only watch in amazement. Kakashi also gave a miniature speech on chakra control and what made it so important.

"I need each of you to train as hard as you can to be as skilled as possible," Kakashi explained. "Because you have to be of the utmost assistance when it comes to protecting our charge. Zabuza will not give you an instant's hesitation, and now that we know of him having allies, it makes our job even more difficult."

"Sensei, do you want me to train them while you go watch Tazuna, or do you want to train them while I watch him?" Naruko asked.

Kakashi scratched his chin. "Hmm, I guess I'll have to go with you staying here while I go watch him."

Naruko nodded. "I shall, sensei!" She waved as he walked away. She turned to her teammates. "I understand that we've had a bit of strife between us, but here's the deal. I like you guys. I think we work great together. I just want us to play off each other's strengths, like when we passed the bell test."

Sakura leaned in. "Ok, so what do we do?"

"Watch me," Naruko explained, "and don't do anything until you're ready." She walked up to a tree, and put her foot against it. "You've already seen this, but it should be repeated. You have to focus the exact amount needed into your foot. If you use too much, the tree will repel you. If you use too little, you won't stick in the first place." She handed each of them a kunai. "As you go up the tree, use this to mark your place."

Sakura and Sasuke both took off for the tree. Sasuke leapt up after a running start, but used too much and got thrown backwards. Sakura managed to climb up to a high branch, and then climbing down just as skillfully. She then sat down next to the tree. Naruko applauded. "Nice job, Sakura, you can go now."

Sakura stood up. "Wait, why?"

Naruko turned to face her. "You passed. Probably because of your excellent chakra control, but you passed. I have to stay here for a while and make sure Sasuke at least learns the basics."

"So, you want me to report to Kakashi-sensei?"

Naruko nodded. "Yes. Now, Sasuke-kun, let's work on why you're not getting it."

Sasuke folded his arms and pouted. "Oh, so you even send Sakura away and have to make an example of me," he lamented.

Naruko hit her forehead with her right palm. "Sasuke, would you _please_ not assume I'm making fun of you."

"Well, why is it that you've got to say that I'm lacking?"

Naruko sighed. "You _haven't_ mastered it yet! That's entirely the point!" She walked over to the tree. "Here's something you can do." She touched it. "People can sense chakra better from physical contact. Touch the tree." He obliged. "Now, feel for how much chakra you need. I need you to get good at doing this without doing this shortcut, but for right now, we start with training wheels."

He felt for the tree's chakra. He then walked back, got a running start, and bounded forwards and upwards. His foot stuck to the bark and he walked five additional steps before falling off. She applauded. He felt for the tree again.

"See? You're getting it," Naruko complimented.

Sasuke sat down to relax after a few more tries and Naruko giving him more advice. He took a jerky stick out of his pocket and ate it. In between bites, he looked at her. "So, you didn't know your parents?"

Naruko tilted her head in confusion at the sudden topic. "What brings that up?"

He shrugged. "Just making conversation."

She sat down. "No, I didn't," she admitted. "I guess you had it lucky; you, at least, knew your parents."

He clenched a fist, but let it go. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he replied. "But I've gotta avenge them. That's why I want to get stronger. What made Jiraiya train you? Do you think he'd train me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess Hokage-sama asked him, but other than that? I don't have a clue." She leaned in. "So, who killed your parents?"

His teeth gritted. "My brother, Itachi," he explained. "Not just them, but he also killed the entire clan."

Naruko furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, by _himself_?"

He looked at her strangely. "Yeah, pretty much."

She scratched her chin. "Hmm," she simply uttered.

He leaned in. "What, so you think someone else might have been involved?"

"Who knows," she replied. "All I know is that the Uchiha were supposed to be a legendary clan. Don't you think it's odd a teenager could massacre an entire clan by himself?"

"He was one of the best, though," Sasuke retorted. "Besides, who else might've been involved?"

She leaned back. "For all we know, you're probably right. But I just find it odd."

Sasuke wiped his brow, then stood up and then, backing up, took a running leap and ran up the tree. Naruko crossed her fingers as he took successful step after step, moving farther up the tree. When his foot slipped she held her breath, but his next step caught, and she let out a sigh of relief. He made it up to the same branch that Sakura had made. She applauded. "See? I told you I could do it," he chided.

"I never said you couldn't," Naruko replied.

The two of them walked back to the house. Naruko saw a degree of joy in him that she hadn't seen in the first few days of their working together. She could tell he started to enjoy their rivalry, that in the brief time they'd worked together, he saw reaching her level as a challenge rather than a chore. He no longer looked at her as something to scorn and dislike. She simply had more training and expertise than he. After all, he knew she'd trained under a very special shinobi who did not often lend his time to training someone. At the same time, she started to see his ability to improve show itself. In the brief time she'd trained him, she saw him learn almost as fast as she, at one to one ratios. _He's a natural born genius,_ she thought, occasionally glancing at him. _He could be a great shinobi, or a terrible enemy_. She couldn't help but be amazed at his natural ability. _I still don't understand why all the kunoichi go "ga ga" over him, though._

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" he said, noticing her odd look at him.

She turned away. "Nothing."

Once they made it back to the house, Kakashi gave them detail around the house as Sakura followed Tazuna at the bridge construction site. The house sat unattacked, just as they had predicted, but still they kept watch just in case. The day went by uneventfully, as Sakura returned home that evening with Tazuna and reported in. That evening, over dinner, they made conversation about the current situation.

"Tell us more about Gato," Kakashi asked. "We already know a lot about him, but tell us the core of information."

"Everything was going fine until Gato showed up," Tazuna explained. "You see, a few years ago, a travelling fisherman named Kaiza came here to look for jobs and opportunity. He saved Inari from harm, when some bullies nearly drowned his pet dog, and he turned out to be a great influence on him."

"So, he was a real father figure," Kakashi added.

"Right," Tazuna agreed. "So, he even married Tsunami so Inari could feel like he had a real family again."

Naruko lowered her head. "And then Gato happened," she remarked.

Tazuna's face darkened. "You're exactly right. He had Kaiza put to death to make an example."

Sakura and Sasuke looked on in shock. In the middle of the conversation, Inari entered the room. "That's why you should give up now!" he shouted.

Naruko turned angrily to him. "Look, you need to shut up," she yelled. "We're going out of our way to protect Tazuna."

Tears began to flow. "Y….you think I don't know that?" he stammered. "It's pointless! Everyone who opposes Gato dies!"

Naruko rolled her eyes. "Look, kid, we've run up against Gato's best already," she explained. "It isn't the _best_ situation, but we should be fine if we work hard at it. Quit worrying; you don't have anything to do in this situation."

Inari went to say something, but she lifted her hand to silence him and left the table. "Where are you going?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm going to clear my mind for a bit," she replied. She headed out into the woods where the tree exercise was. She quickly whipped around when she heard footsteps behind her. "Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

He folded his arms and pouted. "Look, I have to get better at this," he explained. "You had five years of training under Jiraiya and I need to get even better than Kakashi-sensei if I'm going to accomplish my goal."

Naruko sighed. "Sasuke, I know you want to kill your brother, but remember what I said earlier. Don't just go flying off the handle."

"Well, until I find some new piece of evidence that _nobody_ somehow picked up on," he shot back, "I'll just keep to the course I am."

"Please don't use me as a measuring stick," she told him. "My situation and fighting style are very different than yours. What works for me might not work for you."

He gathered the chakra in his feet, and then took a running leap. He stuck to the tree and dashed. With surprising success, he made it almost to the top of the tree. She walked up the side and followed him. She perched on a branch opposite him, and he looked over. "With how good you are, this must've been a breeze."

She shook her head. "Jiraiya-sama spent most of his time training me, just helping me get the basics," she replied. "The only reason why I'm good at all the basics and a good chunk of the more advanced stuff, is because I worked hard. I don't have any advantage that doesn't boil down to hard work." She looked over. "So, what keeps you from getting to the top of this tree?"

He leaned over. "I eventually can't keep the same level of chakra going," he admitted.

"Then that's what you need to work on," she told him. "Training properly is a matter of seeing what's not working and fixing it." She put chakra into her feet and started walking. "Walk with me."

Instead of frantically running up the tree, he slowly put one foot ahead of the other, carefully matching the chakra output each time, and found that it allowed him to go much farther before stopping. After five minutes of walking, they made it to the top of the tree. "See?" she said. "I knew you could do it."

They headed back to the house. Sasuke and Naruko both washed up and got some sleep for the next morning.


End file.
